Editorial: City of Painesville applauded for pair of infrastructure initiatives

For area cities, townships and villages, maintaining and sometimes improving infrastructure — buildings, roads and utilities needed for a community to function — is an important responsibility.

Being aware of that priority, we were pleased to learn about a couple of initiatives in which the city of Painesville is working to either upgrade or more effectively guide the future operation of major infrastructure within its boundaries.

At the Painesville Water Treatment Plant, construction work recently began on a $15 million project. Plans call for improving the facility’s raw water intake by building a second 36-inch intake pipe connecting Lake Erie to the treatment plant.

“The current intake was built in 1951, and we’ve had problems with it for a number of years,” said Frank McKeon, water plant superintendent, “Right now we’re only 1,000 feet off the beach and it can get really dirty. The new intake will go out about 4,000 feet. It will be in deeper water.

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“There will be a more stable water quality, a more consistent turbidity (water cloudiness) and less of a Grand River influence. We won’t be affected as much with the storms in the area. We’re so shallow now so we bring in a lot of debris, which is hard on the equipment. The second intake will also lower our chemical and treatment costs.”

The project was paid for by a zero percent interest, 20-year loan through the Ohio EPA’s Water Supply Loan Account program to address harmful algal blooms.

“Harmful algae bloom is a concern and we are prepared for it,” McKeon said. “We have to remove toxins before people can drink the water. We have made a number of upgrades here at Painesville. We meet and exceed all our water quality parameters. Lake Erie is a great resource.”

After a massive harmful algae bloom contaminated Toledo’s water supply in 2014, the Painesville plant created a plan to avoid similar issues.

The importance of keeping Painesville’s Water Treatment Plant in optimum condition can’t be understated, especially since the plant treats about 3.1 million gallons of water a day for about 25,000 customers in Painesville and Painesville Township, Grand River and parts of Concord Township and Mentor.

It’s clear to us that the intake project is a worthwhile investment and Painesville city leaders deserve credit for wanting to make this key improvement at the plant.

Turning to another infrastructure issue, we also commend Painesville City Council, which recently approved a resolution to form an electric committee.

Council will appoint five members for three-year rotating terms to the panel.

According to the rules and regulations, the Painesville Electric Committee will be an advisory body appointed by City Council. The new group will provide comment and input to assist council in its decision-making role to address specific issues related to the purchase of power, financing, operations, improvements and programs associated with city-owned Municipal Electric Division.

The decision to form an electric committee has been in the making for several years. In fact, during a discussion about Painesville municipal electric rates, a resident inquired about forming a utility board. So first, we applaud council for following through on a suggestion made by a citizen.

We also like the fact that council is seeking to establish a committee that is well qualified to understand the complexity and technical nature of the Municipal Electric Division.

The committee will consist of members who will be chosen based on their ability and educational level in the fields of engineering, accounting or finance, administration and management; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which will provide the required knowledge, skills and ability.

Now that the rules and regulations have been approved, council will appoint qualified citizens to the committee.

We believe that the creation of the electric committee is a wise idea that could benefit the city. After all, the operation of an electric utility and how it delivers and charges for electricity is not always an easy subject to understand. Hopefully, the well-qualified and motivated members of this new committee can explore topics and issues in depth and provided fresh perspectives for council, resulting in sound decisions regarding the Municipal Electric Division and how it serves its customers.